Speechagain was honored to host a Live Chat event with ASHA, discussing all things stuttering, as well as the Speechagain program.

Speech Pathologists recently made a quick transition from treating stuttering in-person, to now virtual. Managing this abrupt change can be challenging. Some questions SLPs had were: Where do you find new online speech resources? How can you continue empowering your stuttering clients? What challenges and successes have you found?

Panelists included:

• Alexander Wolff von Gudenberg, PhD, Director of PARLO Research Institute
• Mallory Stempfley, MA, CCC-SLP, Chief of Speech-Language Pathology, Speechagain
• Michael Blomgren, PhD, CCC-SLP, ASHA-F, Department Chair, University of Utah

Keep reading below for a sneak peek of the chat:

Question 1: What resources would you recommend as “must haves” when working with preschool clients who stutter? Thank You!

Answer: Great question! Speechagain is mainly for adults/young adults, but a children’s program is in the works! I would recommend researching on ASHA and looking to the National Stuttering Association for information. With my experience working with elementary-aged, education was key! We used a lot of technology to provide voice recordings for the client to increase their awareness and hear the “before” and “after”. Also, of course, visuals! Anything that allows them to visualize easing into the word, such as a slide, a train slowly going around a track, moving their finger along a rainbow image, etc.

Answer: COVID has been interesting for Speechagain. As we were already a digital tool, ourselves and our clients really didn’t need to adapt to anything different. Of course, the impact was felt emotionally though, and possibly even financially. We worked with a lot of our clients to support them in any way that we could. Our team has a great customer service team that even just chats with users when they need a little motivation or support. As a Speechagain family, we all feel connected and supported during this time!

Question 3: How do you deal with multiple SLPs using this on the same client? Should everyone have their own account?

Answer: Mainly all of our users are assigned to just one SLP, and vice versa. We haven’t come across the situation of multiple SLPs sharing one client, but if this were the case I would recommend sharing a Speechagain SLP account. That way the client is only linked to one SLP account and you only have to look to one spot for all the data and information. The account could be created as an institution, such as your practice name, as opposed to using your individual information. Hope that makes sense!

A full transcript of the chat can be found here. 

Big thank you to ASHA for partnering with us!

Delton Harper is a charismatic husband from Texas who enjoys reading, writing, and music. Oh…and he’s a person who stutters! Recently, we’ve had the chance to chat with Delton (virtually of course) to learn about his experience as a person who stutters.  

Delton noted that his first experience with stuttering wasn’t until he began school. He had never known the term to describe the way he spoke because for him that was just Delton! It’s hard to believe from our chat with this confident young man, but he admitted that he hated his stutter growing up. He described the evolution of his relationship with his stutter and how he has now become so much more secure in himself. It was wonderful to see him speak so confidently about the insecurity that once took a toll on his approach to life. A few years back he reached a turning point in his journey as a PWS. Delton took to Facebook live to confront his stutter head-on. In a bold and inspiring portrayal, he spoke to his family and friends about his journey as a PWS. Through this he was able to tell his story on his own terms, taking back control. 

Delton’s advice to the stuttering community inspires confidence and hope. “Stuttering will only be what you allow it to be” he stated. He emphasized the importance of taking back your voice. Delton does not let the way he speaks define the person he is. Through his experience with tackling his stutter, he was able to reach a state of mindfulness. One that allowed him to evaluate his own life in a new way.

We admire Delton for his courage in sharing his story and his passion to continue to raise awareness both inside and out of the stuttering community. Having an open conversation allowed us both to gain more insight while expanding our community. We hope to continue the conversation and further our relationship by listening and learning. Thank you, Delton, for your wonderful perspective! 

We were so honored to be featured in the Authority Magazine series, “Big Ideas That Might Change the World”. We believe that as a digital tool that’s affordable and accessible, Speechagain will change the world for those who stutter. A sneak peek of the article below:

As part of the series “Big Ideas That Might Change The World In The Next Few Years” I had the pleasure of interviewing Mallory Stempfley.

Mallory is a certified Speech-Language Pathologist and the first United States-based employee of Speechagain. Being with the company since the start, she has held many responsibilities including marketing, sales, customer service, business development, etc. Mallory’s passion is empowering others and Speechagain has allowed her to do just that on a broad scale. She believes in the growth of digital health and is excited to modernize the speech therapy world! When she’s not working, she is a certified yoga instructor for both pediatrics and adults. 

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Thanks so much for having me! This specific career path came about in an interesting way. During graduate school, while getting my degree in Speech-Language Pathology, I was fortunate enough to have an incredible professor who taught the stuttering course, igniting my passion for speech therapy and stuttering. Around this same time, I was also assigned an internship at the Ohio Virtual Academy, providing teletherapy to students (before it was the “new norm”). These two experiences of stuttering combined with teletherapy led me on my path to Speechagain, a digital tool for people who stutter.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

There have definitely been many interesting stories working for a start-up! One of the best stories occurred when I was hired, as I was the first United States-based employee. With me being the only native English speaker, I “starred” in all the Speechagain videos during my second week working for the company. This experience was terrifying but also incredibly fun to be part of something bigger than myself and really collaborate with the team from the start.

Can you tell us about the “Bleeding edge” technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?

Sure! In short, Speechagain is a digital tool for people who stutter and for speech-language pathologists to use with their own clients who stutter. Our technology uses voice recognition and artificial intelligence to provide instant, personalized feedback for the users. We’re also very proud that our training tool is patented! Our mission is to empower those who stutter to be their most confident selves!

How do you think this might change the world?

Although stuttering has not been represented in the media until recently, there are over 70 million people worldwide who stutter! Out of these 70 million, we’ve found that 80% are not receiving any kind of speech therapy due to lack of resources, financial difficulties, or time constraints. Our digital stuttering tool is affordable, accessible, and can be used anytime, anywhere. This provides a lot of people who stutter a way to receive speech training, which was not available previously.

Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?

As a speech-language pathologist myself, one of the questions people ask me is if I’m okay with Speechagain essentially “taking my job” from me. My answer to this is that a personal approach is always needed for stuttering. Stuttering involves training your voice, but there are also many more secondary and emotional components that go into speech therapy. For this reason, we always provide our users the option to supplement the program with a Speechagain therapist, meeting with them virtually to discuss techniques, social situations, and personal goals. The “human connection” is always needed to some degree.

Check out the full interview to read all the informative answers, such as career advice, stuttering advocacy, and health-tech knowledge.

We were given the incredible opportunity to join ABC10’s network for an interview regarding all things stuttering. Our goal was to spread awareness and education!

Some key points from our time on-air:

Q: What exactly is stuttering?

A: Stuttering is a breakdown of speech. This can look like sound or word repetitions and/or blockages that prevent fluency of speech. It may be viewed as a speech disorder, speech impediment, or simply a characteristic of that individual.

Q: Do we know the cause of stuttering?

A: There’s not one specific cause of stuttering and there still is so much research that needs to be done on this topic. What we do know is that stuttering has a genetic link and there is also a breakdown in the way that a person who stutters’ brain sends signals of speech patterns to their mouth to initiate speech.

Q: Is there a way a parent can identify a stutter in their child?

A: Yes, of course! Some kids may present with a stutter at an early age, from around 2-6 years old. This is common and can be attributed to the fact of overload of information and almost learning all new things “too quickly”. Sometimes the brain and the mouth just need time to catch up! In this case, the stutter will usually subside naturally. If the stutter does persist past the age of 6 years old, then it would be time to seek out a speech evaluation by a speech-language pathologist. This is all just something to be aware of as they get older, and early detection is key! If you are concerned as a parent, a speech evaluation never hurts.

Q: What is the best way to address a stutter in your child if you suspect they may be having fluency difficulties?

A: The best way to address it is by starting with a speech evaluation performed by a speech-language pathologist, as early detection is key! An evaluation is always available, and your child can be reassessed on a 6-month basis to ensure that the stutter naturally subsides, or to schedule regular speech therapy sessions.

Q: Is there a cure for stuttering?

A: There is no cure but there are definitely techniques that can be taught for a more fluent way of speech. My company, Speechagain, is a digital tool for people who stutter that goes through and teaches those techniques for a more fluent way of speaking and gain control of their voice. Unfortunately, though, there is no over-arching cure.

Q: I’m sure this can play a role in someone’s self-confidence as well. Are there any tech tools out there for people who stutter to access therapy?

A: Absolutely. As you said, it may harm someone’s self-confidence. Right now, Speechagain is specifically for young adults/adults who don’t have time in their busy schedules or accessibility to go to speech therapy. Adults want to be confident though! They want to get their dream job, secure a promotion, or even go on a date. It’s so important to give adults these tools for speech therapy and that’s what Speechagain does. We are an accessible web-based platform that can be accessed anytime, anywhere. Our users can implement it into their morning routine with their coffee, or after their children go to bed at night.  It’s an easy way to enhance confidence as an adult!

Q: Do you have any other tips for dealing with a stutter?

A: Stuttering is a very complex speech disorder. It’s important to remember that speech therapy is important, but there are also so many secondary/emotional components of stuttering. Working with a speech pathologist is very important to target not only speech techniques but the emotional components, the anxiety, the way it affects people socially, as well as any other secondary symptoms that are occurring.

Q: And you mentioned the online tool that you have, are you getting some good feedback?

A: We are, yes! I just spoke to a user this morning, as I love to reach out to our users personally and gain any feedback and see if they have any questions. The individual I spoke to is an adult working in the technology field and he was so excited to be using a tech tool to gain control of his voice. He shared he didn’t have time to go to speech therapy and this tool was perfect to do at home, especially now that most people are working from home anyway. Virtual therapy is now more popular than ever, so we’ve had great feedback and we’re so happy to provide an accessible and affordable tool for everyone.

Check out the full interview, where our Chief Speech Language Pathologist, Mallory Stempfley, shares all of the facts!